Māngere sends strong message on light rail: 'This is for us'

The message is clear from Māngere's local residents and leaders: we want a train station in our town centre, regardless of the disruption.

But the decision on whether the suburb gets an early Christmas present won't be known until the government announces the route for its light rail project from the city to Auckland Airport in the next two weeks.

The alternative would be to keep the line running down state highway 20A, reducing cost of the project, but also limiting any extra development that could be built alongside the transport infrastructure.

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board chair Lemauga Lydia Sosene said a station in her area's town centre would be a "game-changer", because it could lift incomes, increase affordable housing options and make it easier for people to connect to employment.

"We're quite transport-poor in terms of connectivity and infrastructure compared to the rest of Auckland," she said.

"But if the town centre was a focal point, I'm hopeful this will be an opportunity to really lift this community."

She said her greatest fear was the project would be "done to our community, not with our community".

"The only reservation I do have is around gentrification and will there be the local procurement," she said.

"Our people need to be involved in the engagement, from our young people getting those really good jobs in the design and implementation through to jobs like train drivers [going to locals]. If we can get our local workforce involved, it can be transformative."

Currently, Māngere's 50-year-old town centre is a collection of two-dollar shops, fast food outlets, loans sharks, fruit and veggie outlets plus a few locally owned retailers selling clothes, jewellery, and shoes.

But when it rains, shopping can become somewhat hazardous as a much-needed renovation to the town centre's roof was cancelled when Auckland Council redirected funding to the City Rail Link.

Māngere town centre manager Dave Fearon said all this could change, with 10,000 new Kāinga Ora houses being built in the area, the increased patronage could attract new investment into the complex.

"It could really be a catalyst for change," he said. "The train station could be a building block for a set of expansions and fix up some of the issues we currently face."

And Fearon and Sosene say the disruption that usually comes with so much construction will be worth it.

"Yes there will be disruption, but our community has been like a cone city anyway for the last few years, so what I'll be asking is that our people are told things early and clearly."

The light rail decision comes nine months after Transport Minister Michael Wood announced a reset, as the project had been mired in political and bureaucratic infighting during Labour's first term of government.

In March, Wood set up a new establishment unit to undertake a business case and consultation process, which has included getting feedback from more than 3000 people, the majority of which was done in-person at weekend markets and shopping strips.

Establishment unit chief executive Tommy Parker said while some people were unaware the project was even happening, once the housing and commercial development opportunities were understood, it was clear Māngere's residents wanted a station located in their shopping centre.

Parker said the community's feedback could be best summed up by one local who said: "You're not going to pass us. This is for us."

Business case and consenting lead Cameron Law said the most obvious route would have been to avoid Māngere town centre altogether, keeping the track alongside state highway 20A, but it quickly became clear this did not meet the "regeneration principles" set out by the minister.

"When we started we just assumed a motorway-based corridor because it's cheaper, less disruptive and we wouldn't have to acquire the land," he said.

"But by actually allowing local communities to participate, we have been able to see those urban regeneration opportunities."

Along with this recommendation, the establishment unit is also recommending that the light rail route start with a tunnel from Wynyard Quarter to Mt Roskill, before running at street level to the airport.

Transport Minister Michael Wood said while the $14.6 billion project carries a "significant financial" price tag, the investment made sense given there was already existing infrastructure in the potential route corridor.

"It's important to note that the cost of inaction will certainly be much higher," he said.

"Pre-Covid congestion in Auckland alone cost approximately $1.3 billion per year, and this figure will only get worse as Auckland continues its rapid growth. If we don't support more housing in existing areas through light rail then we will have to invest in infrastructure at the city fringes."

Wood also pointed out this light rail line did not "sit in isolation" but could be just the beginning of a wider integrated network that connected the whole city.

"It will connect into the existing public transport network and is the first stage of a linked-up MRT network that will also include lines to the North Shore and the north west.

"Investment in the project delivers benefits not only to the immediate corridor, but enables the development of a network that will benefit huge numbers of Aucklanders in the future."

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